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    La Palapa del Guayabo

    3.0 (16 reviews)
    Closed 10:30 am - 8:00 pm

    La Palapa del Guayabo Photos

    LA PALAPA DEL GUAYABO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Live music
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

    Recommended Reviews - La Palapa del Guayabo

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    Molecate de camarones y pulpo! Bastante Rico!
    Cherry A.

    There are places to go to eat, then there are places to be seen by the other beautiful people. While I wouldn't consider Lake Chapala a real bevy of hot bods, I would say this place draws big family type crowds and with the live Mariachis, you'll see people spontaneously get up and dance right next to their bubbling hot molecajete. What's that? You've never heard of molecajete? Yeah, yeah, it's the lava rock bowl that is used as a mortar and pestle to grind stuff like crack, I mean like peppers and salsas. But used as a serving dish, it's like having your sizzling fajitas served in a hot bowl that has gooey melty cheese at the bottom, ready to be spooned onto a fresh and chewy tortilla. I've been here twice and both were on a Sunday. There are mariachi bands who will roam the restaurant and play music at your request. It's a serenade and live entertainment. May I suggest you get some tequila and either drown your sorrows with the songs or celebrate your love of life! Either way, it's a beautiful view, the food is good and music is better. Overall, I like it here and we will return on my day off. The flan is sweet, cold and creamy and the food is tasty. I'd give it another star if it weren't for the occasional stained tablecloth and crushed tortilla chips on the floor. Maybe I notice too much? Maybe I expect too much? Or maybe I just need more tequila?

    Audrey V.

    Foods ok, bad service. Not attentive, had to continue to flag down the staff for our drinks, bill, etc.

    Kim S.

    This restaurant is located right on the edge of Lake Chapala. It's quite large and can accommate parties and family get togethers. We were seated right by the water and had a great view of the lake. They have a full bar and an extensive menu - all reasonably priced. The man had a Chill Relleno stuffed with camarones and I had the Arrecharra Chingadera (marinated with serrano peppers and cebolla). It was very tender and medium rare. The man and I shared an appetizer of chavales. These little dried fish reminded us of childhood. His Mexican mother would fry them and serve them with chile and lemon. My Korean mother would fry them in sesame oil and serve them with rice and chile oil. So good, I haven't had them for about 40 years.

    Prairie S.

    This restaurant is a big separate building with a thatched roof that dominates the lakefront walkway in Chapala, it's hard to miss. With its primo location at the end of the promenade, I expected its kitchen to be less interested in "fine cuisine" and more focused on churning out orders of food to the large number of tables in the extended dining hall. I wasn't wrong. The open-sided construction allows you to feel cool lake breezes and enjoy the natural sunlight. The tables adjacent to the side are of course the nicest. The interior has a fake roof made of thatch poles (the reference to the "palapa" makes sense). It gets loud when the mariachi band starts playing, and folks are dancing between the tables. Although festive, it is also a bit overwhelming. In between the waiters rushing around, there are outside vendors selling flowers, photos, and keychains. The food itself is not fine-cooking, but it comes fast. The mocajete with shrimp and octopus was extremely cheese-heavy. The chilli rellenos with shrimp and cheese was tasty but also, rather heavy handed. I almost wish I had ordered a cocktail of shrimp or tostados topped with aguachiles, for a more simple/less cheese-dominated dish. The cocktail glasses looked great. We ordered a dish of guacamole which was absolutely amazing! The table is set with pre-made, store-bought tostadas and crackers and the kitchen brings out salsa and cucumber/jalapeno chutney; the spiciness is terrific. Order yourself a "vampira" which is a margarita with a shot of red sangrita and feel the buzz with the heat burning your tongue! It's such a wild, wacky, loud experience that the lack of fine cooking will be incidental.

    Salsa DE chapala

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    9 years ago

    The food is not good at all, the restaurant is nice but the seafood is decent, I wouldn't eat here aha

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    La Perla - Salud!

    La Perla

    2.3(7 reviews)
    0.5 km

    -Definitely a tourist trap. We got sucked in because they have the huge platters of seafood and…read moremeats. We had a huge party with us which is why we decided to have lunch there. The guys outside the restaurant really know how to hustle hard so people can come in. Included in our platters were complimentary drinks which was ok but, if you wanted to keep drinking you would have to pay for each of your drinks. -We got seated in the back because we had a large party. The restaurant does face the lake of Chapala which is very nice. Unfortunately, that is the only good thing about the restaurant. -For our complimentary drinks, we decided to get horchata. Probably one of the worst drinks I've had. It was so watered down I barely tasted the flavor. They gave us a platter of different salsas and sauces for our food and they were mediocre. Nothing was fresh and they looked like there were sitting out for a while or from previous past days or weeks. I was already not liking the restaurant and I was not expecting much from the food. -The platters came out and they looked great and they were presented nicely. Once we started to eat it was a different story. The seafood platter was mostly fried. We barely got served any seafood. The fish was fried too long and it was not as tasty as I was hoping it was going to be. It also came with a bowl of ceviche and it wasn't as great. The meat platter was okay as well. We got served chicken and beef fajitas but it was mostly bell peppers and protein here and there. Not worth it. It came with a bowl of guacamole and that was actually pretty decent which I was so surprised. They also brought us tortillas which were okay. -The waiters kept forgetting to bring us water and a second round of tortillas which we had to remind them a couple of times. I will never come back to this restaurant next time we visit Chapala. I would have rather had lunch from a vendor from the street than this restaurant.

    Customer service sucked. Didn't bring out drinks right away and brought out the wrong order. Server…read morewas very unprofessional, do not recommend this restaurant.

    Photos
    La Perla - View of Lake Chapala from La Perla

    View of Lake Chapala from La Perla

    La Perla - Fajitas -- no meat with rice and salad.

    Fajitas -- no meat with rice and salad.

    La Perla - Shrimp Ceviche

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    Shrimp Ceviche

    La Palapa del Guayabo - seafood - Updated May 2026

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